2021-2022学年度第3期总第841期
Walking in space
山东省烟台第二中学  柳力文
Lead-in
1. What do you know about China’s Shenzhou XII mission? 
China launched the Shenzhou XII manned spacecraft (运载火箭) on June 17, which sent three astronauts to its space station core module Tianhe (空间站天和核心舱) for a three-month mission.

President Xi Jinping congratulates (from left to right) Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming, astronauts orbiting Earth in China's space station core module Tianhe.

2. Do you think it is easy for human beings to walk in space? Why?
3. What equipment do astronauts need to go on a spacewalk? What do they do during the spacewalk?
During their stay, the astronauts are scheduled to complete two spacewalks. 
They will use robotic arms to move around the ship and carry out repair tasks, experiments and tests on the Tiangong’s equipment. Most importantly, they are to open the packages of 6.8 tons of supplies delivered (运送) by the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft. (货运飞船)

Skimming 
Read the passage quickly, and answer the two questions.
1.What is the type of writing?
A. Narration
B. Exposition
C. Argumentation

2.  What is the article mainly about?
It’s about the newly designed Feitian spacesuit which helped Chinese astronauts go out on the second spacewalk.

Read for details
Read the text carefully and answer the following questions.
1.What equipment do astronauts need for a spacewalk?
•spacesuits, robotic arm, safety ropes
•a mirror on the wrist
•other devices…

2.How many layers do Feitian spacesuits have? What is the function of each layer?
•Six layers.
•Functions:
①The innermost (最里面的) layer collects astronauts’ urine (尿液). 
②The middle four layers help control the temperature and air pressure inside the suit. 
③The sixth layer protects astronauts from radiation.

3.What are the features of the new Feitian suit?
①They can support longer walks lasting up to eight hours and can be used more often. 
②Each suit costs around 30 million yuan, and it takes four months to make just one.

Language study
1.  With low temperatures, radiation (辐射) and high-energy particles (粒子), the vacuum (真空) of space is nothing but harsh (严酷的).
nothing but: only; no more/less than 只；只有；只是；仅仅
eg. I want nothing but the best for my children. 
我只是想给我的孩子们最好的。

2.  Despite the astronauts’ skill, spacewalking is a challenging task. 
Paraphrase: 
Although astronauts have skill, spacewalking is a difficult task.
despite: in spite of
eg. Despite the wind and rain, they still enjoy working outside.
尽管外面风雨交加，他们仍然很喜欢在户外工作。

3.  The first generation could only be used five times within two years, while the second generation can be used 15 times within three years.
while在这里是并列连词，表示对两种事物的对比。
eg. 
①While Tom's very good at science, his brother is absolutely hopeless. 
•汤姆很擅长理科，而他的兄弟绝对是不可救药。
②Most digital camera owners are male, while women prefer film. 
• 大部分数码相机的主人都是男性，而女性偏爱用胶卷。

Useful expressions
1.spend six hours walking in space
2.adjust equipment
3.carry out spacewalk
4.protect astronauts from radiation

After-reading
1.What breakthroughs have been made in China’s Shenzhou XII mission? 
2.What do you think of the achievements?
1. The Shenzhou-12 launch is the first crewed Chinese space mission since 2016, and represents the latest development in China’s manned space program.
2. Shenzhou-12 is the first spaceflight to send a human crew to the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong. 
3. The launch and flight of Shenzhou-12 was guided by China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (北斗卫星导航系统) for the first time. 
4. Tiangong might have the best food available in space. There are more than 120 kinds of delicious food on board!

Assignment
•Discuss in groups about the future of space exploration.
•Write a passage titled My vision of China’s space mission.